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Campaign News |
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Cameroon Project: Human Rights and the Administration of Justice
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LWRC is working jointly with the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales--BHRC and the International Criminal Defense Attorneys Association--AIAD-ICDAA to provide bilingual human rights training to the legal community in Cameroon and to bridge the divide between the common law and civil law systems in Cameroon. The program, scheduled for March 2005, will target judges, practitioners, government lawyers, prison officials and academics from both systems and will aim to engage parliamentarians and the media by coinciding with the sitting of Cameroon's National Assembly. The project will be sustained through technical assistance and training for Internet research, advocacy training for human rights defenders and practitioners, and the creation of links between members of the legal community in Cameroon and members of the same community in Canada and the U.K.
LRWC is providing two extraordinary instructors to the Cameroon project: Mme Claire L'Heureux-Dub, one of Canada's most distinguished jurists and former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and Professor William Schabas, one of Canada most distinguished human rights advocates currently Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights. Mme L'Heureux-Dub and Professor Schabas are both specialists in common and civil law.
Instructors from BHRC are three distinguished British barristers: Keir Starmer Q.C. legal director of the Human Righs Act Research Project, Jonathan Cooper barrister and editor of European Human Rights Law Review and barrister Tim Otty.
Through this project LRWC, BHRC and AIAD-ICDAA and its partners will provide human rights advocacy training and supporting technical assistance to the Cameroon jurists. Problems of enforcing human rights and the rule of law are complicated by the fact that Cameroonian provinces are divided between the common law and civil law systems and there is no unified criminal code or practice. Consequently a "great divide" exists between the two bars. The Cameroon Advocacy Training project will provide a bilingual program that will bring judges, practitioners, justice lawyers, prison officials and academics from both systems together. We hope to also engage parliamentarians and the media in the initiative, and therefore are planning to time it to coincide with one of the National Assembly's sessions.
LWRC intends this project to be the beginning of a long
collaboration between British, Canadian and Cameroon jurists and with human rights NGOs in Cameroon. In January 2004 the African Union created the African Court of Human and People's Rights. The development of working relationships between Canadian, British and African human rights advocates will, we hope, enhance the development and implementation of human rights through an ongoing exchange of legal knowledge and jurisprudence.
Lawyer Maureen Webb is the LRWC Cameroon Project Manager and can be contacted through lrwc@lrwc.org.
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THE SIERRA LEONE LAW LIBRARIES PROJECT
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Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada has joined forces with the Bar Human Rights Committee
of England and Wales (BHRC), in an effort to re-build Sierra Leone's legal research
infrastructure by providing high quality text books, practitioners' materials,
law reports and electronic resources to two law libraries in Freetown, Sierra Leone:
- the High Court library. The High Court is the site of civil and ordinary criminal trials in Sierra Leone, and;
- the Special Court library. The Special Court was created under a United Nations Security Council mandate,
at the request of and by agreement with, the government of Sierra Leone to try cases involving crimes against
humanity, war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.
The High Court library, previously Sierra Leone principal law library was destroyed during the country's ten-year civil war.
Andrew Hall, QC of BHRC remarks, "Everything is in demand!!
The High Court Library was burned down in the civil war and the collections in virtually every other law library, and held by practitioners, have been lost or destroyed. Lawyers simply do not have access to books - it is as simple as that."
In a separate initiative, the British Council is funding the reconstruction of the High Court library space.
LRWC and BHRC are also providing resource material to the new Special Court library.
The law library of the Special Court-like its buildings, registry, and other infrastructure-will
devolve to Sierra Leone's Ministry of Justice at the end of the Court's mandate.
Members of the legal profession and advocates/researchers from non-governmental organizations currently have,
and will continue to have, access to the collections.
Canadian law firms and law book publishers have been so generous that LRWC now urgently needs to find
more money to ship the approximately 6,000 pounds of excellent legal texts and law reports (primarily in the
areas of criminal and human rights law) and to fly the project coordinator to Freetown.
In Ontario, Ogilvy Renault, Toronto Office, has donated sets of Supreme Court Reports, Dominion Law Reports, All England Law
Reports and a number of other useful resources, including a fully updated version of the Canadian
Encyclopedic Digest (3rd). Judicial Library Services of the Ontario Superior Courts made a significant
donation of textbooks and studies by the Canada Law Reform Commission. Canada Law Book, which donated
brand new copies of the multi-volume Annotated Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, McWilliams's
Canadian Criminal Evidence, Ewaschuk's Criminal Pleadings and Practice in Canada and many other
useful books.
In Alberta, Fraser, Milner Casgrain LLP, Edmonton Office, donated sets of the
Administrative Law Reports, US Supreme Court Reports, and a number of significant text books.
In British Columbia, Blake, Cassels, Graydon LLP, Vancouver Office, donated volumes of the Canadian Rights Reporter and Charter of Rights Decisions, along with approximately 60 useful and varied textbooks. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin, Vancouver Office, donated copies of the Canadian Sentencing Digest and a copy of the ever-useful Corbin on Contracts. The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia generously donated 20 new texts and Manuals, including the latest version of the British Columbia Civil Trial Handbook and Managing Your Law Firm.
Donated books will provide a lasting resource for the legal community in Sierra Leone and contribute to restoring Freetown as a principal centre for African legal scholarship and research.
LRWC and BHRC view the Sierra Leone Library Project as part of an ongoing commitment to establish working links between Canadian, British and African lawyers. This is particularly exciting and timely in view of the 25 January 2004 creation of the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights (African Court) by the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
Donations of money are urgently needed for shipping books and sending LRWC project manager to Freetown. Donors will receive a tax receipt, a copy of the final Sierra Leone Library Project report. Donations can be made by Visa, cash or cheque.
Contact
For more information on the Sierra Leone Library Project or to make a donation please contact:
Monique Pongracic-Speier
LRWC Project Co-ordinator, Sierra Leone Library Project
Schroeder & Company
1119-808 Nelson Street
Vancouver, B.C. V6Z 2H2
Fax: (604) 688-0271
Tel: (604) 688-6737
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| COLOMBIA CAMPAIGN |
SIN ABOGADOS NO HAY JUSTICIA/WITHOUT LAWYERS
NO JUSTICE
Colombian lawyers have been conducting a campaign September 2003-March 2004
to improve the safety and independence of lawyers in Colombia. Lawyers Rights
Watch Canada is continuing this campaign on behalf of lawyers and other
human rights advocates in Colombia.
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| LRWC PARTICIPATION COLOMBIA CAMPAIGN OBJECTS |
- Look at threats to and attacks on lawyers and other advocates in the
light of Colombia's international law obligations and in light of other
country obligations to uphold the law.
- Provide support to Colombian human rights advocates in danger.
- Educate lawyers and others in Canada about the plight of lawyers in
Colombia and of the necessity for improved security and independence
safeguards for Colombian advocates.
- Contribute to international education campaigns.
- Create an international committee of lawyers and advocates to monitor
and report on violations against lawyers and other advocates.
- Create a trial-monitoring group of Spanish speaking lawyers who can
consider traveling to Colombia to monitor safety and trials.
- Promote cooperation and information exchanges amongst human rights
groups in Canada, USA, UK and Colombia.
- Consider taking reference to the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights.
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| I. LRWC COLOMBIA INITIATIVES |
| Breaking the Silence: Towards Peace and Justice in Colombia-March
19 2004 Vancouver British Columbia www.amnesty.bc.ca/colombia
LRWC is participating in the one day teach-in on Colombia hosted by Amnesty
International in cooperation with LRWC, Oxfam, ENLACES, HIJOS, and Minga
Canada Colombia.
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II. Letter writing: LRWC will continue to write letters on behalf of Colombian
advocates in danger because of their advocacy. |
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LWRC writes letters on behalf of jurists and other human rights defenders
who face reprisals as a result of their human rights advocacy that are
intended to provide a check on the abuse of power and at minimum serve
as a reminder to government officials that violations of human and advocacy
rights are being monitored by Canadian lawyers. LRWC letters urge compliance
with national and international requirements to safeguard the safety and
independence of advocates and are sent to the government officials directly
responsible for the issue being addressed. Many governments respond to
LRWC. |
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LRWC has written to the Colombian governments about Colombian human rights
advocates who have been: |
- Murdered-advocate Reynaldo Peredomo was murdered August 12, 2003;
advocate Pedro Torres was kidnapped August 9 2003 and his corpse was found
later that day;,
- Disappeared-lawyer Uldarico Florez disappeared on December 26,
2003; prosecutor Bentancur Echeverri, judicial secretary Jairo Carvajal
Pérez and Judge Dora Muñoz were abducted November 27th 2000
and are still missing.
- Death threats-lawyer Andriana Cuéllar received death threats
November 24, 2003; lawyer Diana Murcia received a death threat November
12 2002; Gladys Avila received death threats on June 8 and July 3 2002;
- Kept under surveillance-Gladys Avila kept under surveillance in
July 2002; Daniel Prado kept under surveillance in March 2002
- Break ins to home or office-ASFADDES office broken into July 2002;
Adriana Cuéllar's home broken into November 2003.
- Shot at-advocate Juan Galvis' car was shot at August 22, 2003;
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In an October 20 2003 letter to President Uribe Vélez human rights
groups identified more than 35 lawyers who had been disappeared or assassinated
in the two years prior and cited the cases of. |
- Aliro Jesús Pedraza Besera-disappeared July 1990
- Javier Barriga Vergel-murdered July 16, 1995
- Jesús María Valle Jaramillo-murdered February 27,
1998.
- Eduardo Umaña Mendoza-murdered April 18, 1998
- Rafael Vargas Felizola-murdered 1999
- Martiza Palacios Quiroz-murdered January 20, 2000
- Fernando Cruz Peña-disappeared December 2000
- Alma Rosa Jaramillo-murdered June 2001
- Efraín Varela-murdered June 28 2002.
LRWC seeks information about the investigation conducted on all these
cases. |
| III OTHER INITIATIVES |
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